Action Research On Developing Note-taking Habits To Improve Underachievers’ English Learning In Junior High School

Nine-year Compulsory Education English Curriculum Standards(2022 version)has already focused on the development of core competencies for English learners and treated it as the ultimate goal of English language learning at this stage.Under the influence of core competencies,students’ learning capacity has been given importance.Learning capacity lays the foundation for the development of other competencies and mainly requires students to be able to apply and adjust their own learning strategies appropriately in order to develop good learning habits and acquire more learning resources.The status of note-taking as an important component of cognitive strategy is also re-emphasized in the latest standards.Note-taking is a strategy of recording,checking and reviewing information from different sources.By taking notes,students will be able to analyse the essence of information,thus freeing their minds from mere recall and gradually store in long-term memory.However,due to the lack of knowledge about note-taking,research related to it does not provide teachers with adequate guidance at either the conceptual or practical level.By taking learning ability as a starting point,this study is action research to develop students’,especially underachievers’ good note-taking habits and be based on the Information Processing Theory.Focusing on 19 underachievers in a class of grade 8 in junior high school,this action research includes three specific research questions(RQs).1)What prevents underachievers from developing good note-taking habits? 2)How can instructors help underachievers improve their note-taking habits when facing problems in note-taking? 3)What effect will the development of good note-taking habits have on underachievers’ learning?This study will use the following three instruments: questionnaire,interview,pre-test and post-test to collect data,and use SPSS 26.0 to analyse them.After a13-week three round action research,the author find: 1)The biggest discrepancy between underachievers and normal students is not in the cognitive but in the practical.Underachievers can also recognize that note-taking will bring great efficiency to their learning,but they just have not yet put it into practice.2)In the early period,to ensure that the underachievers can record their notes,it is necessary for instructors to take some strict measures.Later,after appreciating the value of that notes can bring,most of the underachievers consciously insist on note-taking and organizing.3)With the help of action research,underachievers can build a clear note-taking system,develop good English learning habits and arrange their study resources rationally.At the same time,students’ academic performance will be improved dramatically.